Holdback



' Patented Oct. 25, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

WILLIAM REED, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO EDWARD E. SNYDER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOLDBAGKE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 3'72,236 ,dated @etober 25,1887.

Application filed February 14, 1887. Serial No. 227.556. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM REED, of Indianapolis, in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 5 in Apparatus for Attaching Shafts to Harness,

of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus of the class mentioned in which means are provided in the shaft and harness for affording a quick hitchingor unhitching of a horse and vehicle; and the object is to simplify and improve the construction of such devices.

I attain the object by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a top view showing a portion of the shaft and harness at the point of connection on the left side of the horse. Fig. 2 is a side view of the inner side of the shaft, the harness part being removed. Fig. 3 is a cross-section 0 on line w w of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; and Fig. 4 is a side view of the harness part on the right side.

,- A designates one of the shafts, to both of which there are attached, on the inside near the 5 front end, by means of screws or bolts a, metal pieces or plates A, which are provided with an open slot, a, having a narrowed or con tracted space at the inner side, as shown ata Fig. 3, being substantially a dovetail groove 3 or slot formed in the inner face of the plates. In this slot there is fitted asnap-hook, B,which has a tongue or shank, b, adapted to slide in the groove. The tongue is inserted from the front, and slides back freely until it strikes a stop near the rear end of the slot, formed by the head I) of one of the bolts a, or in any other suitable manner. The rear of the hook is provided with a loop, B, through which the end of the tug G is passed and secured in any ordinary manner, the rear end being attached to the whiffietree in the usual way. The plates and the slots therein are of the required lengthto allow the hook to play back and forth between the stop b and the front end of the slot 5 to adapt the hook to the movements of the horse, and the tug prevents the tongue of the hook from passing out at the front end of the stop; but by unhitching the tug from the whif-- fietree the hook is readily detachable from the shaft.

The harness is provided with an eye or vertical pin, D, upon each side, adapted to engage the snap-hooks B. This is best made integral with the harness-plate D, which is provided with an opening, at, for the back-band E and belly-band E, and has projections d, which support the pin out from the face of the plate to better adapt it to engage with the hook. The central part of the plate at d is open, and the breast-strap E is attached at the front end 6 and the breeching or holdback-strap E is attached at the rear.

The tonguec of the hookis pivoted at c and provided with a leaf-spring, (shown at c" in dotted lines,) which tends to hold the tongue 6 out against the point of the hook, in the usual manner, to allow the tongue to be pressed in to engage the hook and then spring out to prevent .unhooking. \Vhen the hook is engaged over the pin D, the tongue of the hook lies in the opening d behind the pin, so as to be easy of access in unhooking.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The shaft provided with a plate, A, having a dovetail groove, a, in its inner face, in combination with a snap hook, 13, provided with a tongue, 1), adapted to slide in the groove of the plate, and the tug O, as and for the purpose specified.

Q. The plate A, provided with groove a and stop I), the snap-hook provided with tongue 1), adapted to said groove, and the tug 0, attached to said hook, in combination with the harnessplate provided with pin D, as and for the pur- 85 pose specified.

WILLIAM REED. Witnesses:

JOHN R. LEONARD, -W. M. COVAL. 

